Stereoscopic augmented reality head-worn display with indicator conforming to a real-world object

ABSTRACT

Head-worn displays are disclosed. A head-worn display may include at least one processor configured to determine a location of the head-worn display with respect to a real-world environment and to generate a conformal indicator conforming to an element in the real-world environment. The at least one processor may also be configured to generate a non-conformal indicator unconstrained by elements in the real-world environment. The head-worn display may include at least one display in communication with the at least one processor. The at least one display may be configured to display the conformal indicator and/or the non-conformal indicator generated by the at least one processor to a user.

BACKGROUND

A head-worn display (or a head-mounted display) is a display device wornon the head of a user. A head-worn display may include one or moredisplay optics positioned in the field of view of one or both eyes ofthe user. A head-worn display having display optics positioned in thefields of view of both eyes of the user may be referred to as astereoscopic head-worn display.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed hereinare directed to a head-worn display. The head-worn display may includeat least one processor configured to determine a location of thehead-worn display with respect to a real-world environment and togenerate a conformal indicator conforming to an element in thereal-world environment. The head-worn display may also include at leastone display in communication with the at least one processor. The atleast one display may be configured to display the conformal indicatorgenerated by the at least one processor to a user.

In a further aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a head-worn display. The head-worn display mayinclude at least one processor configured to determine a location of thehead-worn display with respect to a real-world environment and togenerate a conformal indicator conforming to an element in thereal-world environment. The head-worn display may also include astereoscopic display in communication with the at least one processor.The stereoscopic display may be configured to display the conformalindicator generated by the at least one processor to a user, wherein theconformal indicator is displayed at a stereoscopic depth conforming tothe element in the real-world environment.

In another aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a head-worn display. The head-worn display mayinclude at least one processor configured to: determine a location ofthe head-worn display with respect to a real-world environment; generatea conformal indicator conforming to an element in the real-worldenvironment; and generate a non-conformal indicator unconstrained byelements in the real-world environment. The head-worn display may alsoinclude a stereoscopic display in communication with the at least oneprocessor. The stereoscopic display may be configured to display theconformal indicator and the non-conformal indicator generated by the atleast one processor to a user, wherein the conformal indicator may bedisplayed at a stereoscopic depth conforming to the element in thereal-world environment, and wherein the non-conformal indicator may bedisplayed at an adjustable stereoscopic depth.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimedherein. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of theinventive concepts and together with the general description, serve toexplain the principles and features of the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous objects and advantages of the inventive concepts disclosedherein may be better understood by those skilled in the art by referenceto the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration depicting head-worn displays configured to beutilized inside an aircraft;

FIG. 2 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by a head-worn display according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe inventive concepts disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display during low visibility situations;

FIG. 4 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein a virtual panel is renderedto appear at a fixed location;

FIG. 5 is another illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein the virtual panel is renderedto appear at the fixed location;

FIG. 6 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein a primary flight display isconditionally engaged;

FIG. 7 is another illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein the primary flight display isconditionally engaged;

FIG. 8 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein the primary flight display isconditionally disengaged;

FIG. 9 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein an alert is displayed;

FIG. 10 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein the alert is displayed atvarying stereoscopic depths;

FIG. 11 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein a checklist is displayed;

FIG. 12 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein a visual aid is displayed tohelp a user complete the checklist;

FIG. 13 is an illustration depicting an augmented reality depictionprovided by the head-worn display, wherein the user uses the visual aidto complete an action specified in the checklist; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram depicting a head-worn display according to anexemplary embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of theinventive concepts disclosed herein, examples of which are illustratedin the accompanying drawings.

Embodiments in accordance with the inventive concepts disclosed hereinare directed to augmented reality head-worn displays. Referringgenerally to FIGS. 1-13, a series of diagrams illustrating augmentedreality depictions that may be presented to a user (e.g., an aircraftpilot) using an exemplary head-worn display 100 configured in accordancewith the inventive concepts disclosed herein is shown.

The term “augmented reality” refers to a live view of a physical,real-world environment whose elements may be augmented (or supplemented)by computer-generated graphics or data input. For instance, as shown inFIG. 2, a pilot may be able to view the real-world environment 102through the head-worn display 100. It is noted that the real-worldenvironment may be viewed directly, where the head-worn display 100 mayutilize a substantially transparent display substrate that allows thepilot to see the real-world environment 102 through the transparentdisplay substrate. Alternatively, the real-world environment 102 may beprovided to the pilot indirectly, where the head-worn display 100 mayutilize one or more cameras to obtain live views of the real-worldenvironment 102 and display the live views to the pilot via thehead-worn display 100. It is contemplated that a head-worn display 100configured in accordance with the inventive concepts disclosed hereinmay implement either approach without departing from the broad scope ofthe inventive concepts disclosed herein.

Also shown in FIG. 2 are some exemplary graphics/data elements 104, 106,and 108 that may be generated by the head-worn display 100. For example,a computer-generated graphical depiction 104 of the real-worldenvironment 102 may be displayed to provide supplemental informationabout the real-world environment 102. The graphical depiction 104 mayinclude, for example, one or more wireframe maps, topographic maps,territorial boundaries, flight restriction indicators, obstacleindicators, airport indicators, landing pad indicators, wind directionindicators, traffic, weather radar returns (e.g., weather, groundmapping, turbulence, lightning), and sensor information includingenhanced vision sensors as well as other types of indicators that mayhelp the pilot better understand the real-world environment 102. It isnoted that in certain instances, the graphical depiction 104 of thereal-world environment 102 may be more informative than the pilot's ownvisual of the real-world environment 102, especially when operating atnight or during low visibility situations (as shown in FIG. 3).

It is contemplated that the head-worn display 100 may utilize a varietyof techniques to correlate the graphical depiction 104 with thereal-world environment 102 to increase the integrity of the augmentedreality depiction. For instance, by determining the position/orientationof the aircraft (e.g., using various positioning systems available onthe aircraft) and the position/orientation of the head-worn display 100(e.g., using one or more head trackers that can track the head positionof the pilot) relative to the aircraft, the head-worn display 100 may beable to generate a simulated view that precisely depicts the real-worldenvironment 102 from the perspective of the pilot. This simulated viewmay be further processed to provide a stereoscopic view (having slightlydifferent renderings for the left and the right eyes), which may then bedisplayed using the head-worn display 100 to augment the pilot's view ofthe real-world environment 102. It is noted that because stereoscopicviews are not readily presentable in the accompanying figures, onlytwo-dimensional representations of such stereoscopic views are providedin FIGS. 2-13. It is contemplated that the two-dimensionalrepresentations provided in FIGS. 2-13 are merely exemplary and are notmeant to be limiting.

It is also contemplated that the head-worn display 100 may provide othertypes of computer-generated graphical depictions in addition to thegraphical depictions 104 described above. For example, the head-worndisplay 100 may be configured to provide a graphical depiction of aflight path 106 and one or more virtual panels 108.

It is noted that the virtual panel 108 may be designed to simulate oneor more conventional control/display panels (e.g., multi-functiondisplays) that the pilot may be familiar with. It is also noted that thevirtual panel 108 may be designed to be customizable, providing thepilot abilities to modify the layout and/or functionalities provided bythe virtual panel 108. It is further noted that the virtual panel 108may be configured to support one or more means of data input. Forexample, the virtual panel 108 may be controlled using voice command orspeech recognition. Alternatively and/or additionally, the virtual panel108 may behave as a virtual touch screen that can be controlled usinghand tracking or gesture recognition. In another example, eye trackingtechniques may be utilized to allow the pilot to control the position ofa cursor using his/her eyes and then use a selector (e.g., a button, avoice command or the like) to execute an operation based on the positionof the cursor. Eye tracking techniques may also be utilized to enableautomatic calibration of the head-worn display 100 and zoomingoperations, where the center point of the zooming operation may bedetermined based on the detected eye position. It is to be understoodthat the virtual panel 108 may be configured to support other means ofdata input without departing from the broad scope of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein.

It is also to be understood that the virtual panel 108 may be fixed to aparticular location to simulate a behavior that is consistent withconventional fight deck multi-function displays. For instance, as shownin FIGS. 2 and 3, the virtual panel 108 may appear to be centrallylocated when the pilot is looking down at the flight deck in thedirection of travel. However, as the pilot turns his/her head to theleft (FIG. 4) or to the right (FIG. 5), the virtual panel 108 may stayat its original position instead of following the pilot's headmovements. It is contemplated that an option may be provided to thepilot to either enable or disenable locking of the virtual panel 108.

Also shown in FIGS. 2-5 is another optional feature that may enhance theviewing experience of the virtual panel 108 when enabled. Morespecifically, it is noted that the virtual panel 108 may be configuredto always face the pilot at a predetermined viewing angle with respectto the pilot's line of sight. For instance, the virtual panel 108 mayalways be rendered normal to the pilot's line of sight, which may beappreciated in various operating conditions.

It is contemplated that certain head-worn displays 100 configured inaccordance with the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be furtherconfigured to provide a primary flight display (PFD). As shown in FIG.6, the PFD 110 may start to appear as the pilot starts to lift his/herhead up and look away from the virtual panel 108. It is noted that thePFD 110 may include an attitude indicator, which may give the pilotinformation about the aircraft's pitch and roll characteristics as wellas the orientation of the aircraft with respect to the horizon. Incertain implementations, the horizon represented in the PFD 110 mayconform to the actual horizon (as it would be seen by the pilot). As thepilot continues to lift his/her head up (as shown in FIG. 7), theposition of the horizon represented in the PFD 110 may be adjustedaccordingly.

It is to be understood that the PFD 110 may be configured to displayother types of indictors as well. For example, the PFD 110 may includean airspeed indicator, an altitude indicator, a vertical speedindicator, and/or a heading indicator. It is to be understood that thelist of indicators that may be provided by the PFD 110 is merelyexemplary and is not meant to be limiting. It is contemplated that thespecific layout of the PFD 110 may vary without departing from the broadscope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

It is contemplated that the PFD 110 may be disengaged manually and/orautomatically. For instance, the PFD 110 may be manually disengaged inresponse to a user-initiated command. Alternatively and/or additionally,the PFD 110 may be conditionally disengaged when it is determined thatthe PFD 110 is interfering with what the pilot intends to see. Forexample, the PFD 110 may be disengaged when the pilot starts to lookdown into the flight deck (as shown in FIG. 8), which may indicate thatthe pilot intends to see the virtual panel 108 (or other instrumentsprovided within the cockpit) instead of the PFD 110. The PFD 110 mayalso be disengaged when the pilot turns toward the direction of his/herco-pilot, or turns toward any direction that may be defined toconditionally disengage the PFD 110.

It is contemplated that various other techniques may also be utilized tohelp determine whether to conditionally disengage the PFD 110. Forinstance, face recognition or other detection techniques may be utilizedto recognize a situation where the pilot intends to see an objectdifferent from the PFD 110, which may prompt the head-worn display 100to temporarily disengage the PFD 110. It is to be understood that otherdetection techniques may also be utilized to help make the determinationwithout departing from the broad scope of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein. For example, if the PFD 110 appears to overlap withthe virtual panel 108, and if the virtual panel 108 is deemed moreimportant than the PFD 110 should they overlap, the PFD 110 may bedisengaged accordingly when an overlap occurs. It is to be understoodthat similar techniques may be utilized in reversed manners to helpdetermine whether and when to conditionally engage the PFD 110 withoutdeparting from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

It is contemplated that, in certain implementations, the head-worndisplay 100 may be further configured to communicate with various typesof sensors and/or detection devices (e.g., radars) onboard the aircraft,providing the head-worn display 100 abilities to receive and displayadditional information regarding the real-world environment 102. Forinstance, the head-worn display 100 may be configured to receive weatherinformation in real-time, and if a particular weather pattern is of aconcern, an alert (which may include data indicating its position,movement, intensity and the like) may be displayed at a location thatcorrelates with that particular weather pattern in the real-world.Similarly, the head-worn display 100 may receive information regardingan object (e.g., a landing destination, an obstacle, an oil platform, asearch and rescue target or the like) from one or more radars (e.g., theweather radar or the like) onboard the aircraft, cross-reference thereceived information with information obtained from other sensors (e.g.,location sensors or the like) if available, and display an indicator orsymbology to help the pilot locate the object with improved datareliability. The head-worn display 100 may also be configured to receivetraffic information from one or more detection/communication devices inreal-time and display an alert (which may also include data indicatingits position, direction, speed and the like) that correlates with atraffic of concern.

FIG. 9 is an illustration depicting an exemplary alert 112 that may beprovided by the head-worn display 100 to identify an object of concern114 (e.g., a flying object, a weather pattern or the like). It is to beunderstood that the alert 112 may be displayed in various differentmanners without departing from the broad scope of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein. For instance, the alert 112 may be displayed in aparticular color or at a particular brightness setting. Additionallyand/or alternatively, the head-worn display 100 may take advantages ofthe stereoscopic nature of the view and present the alert 112 at aparticular depth (e.g., rendering the alert 112 as a three-dimensionalelement) to visually indicate the importance of the alert 112.

It is contemplated that other techniques may also be utilized tovisually indicate the importance of the alert 112. For example, thealert 112 may be associated with a movement (e.g., in the x-, y-, and/orz-direction) to act as a rapid attention gathering mechanism. As shownin FIGS. 9 and 10, the depth of the alert 112 (as it appears in athree-dimensional space) may change, which in turn may draw theattention of the pilot. In another example, shadows may be added to thealert 112 and/or the object of concern 114 to provide additional cue ofdepth and/or altitude. It is contemplated that other two-dimensionaland/or three-dimensional visual effects not explicitly mentioned abovemay also be utilized to visually indicate the importance of the alert112 without departing from the broad scope of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein.

It is also to be understood that similar visual effects may beapplicable to other display elements provided by the head-worn display100 without departing from the broad scope of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein. For example, if it is determined that the aircraft isflying too close to the ground or too close to a restricted area, one ormore relevant portions of the graphical depiction 104 (e.g., thewireframe as depicted in the figures) may be associated with one or morevisual effects to indicate the potentially dangerous situation.Similarly, if it is determined that the aircraft is flying too fast, forexample, the airspeed indicator of the PFD 110 may be associated withone or more visual effects to alert the pilot.

It is further contemplated that the head-worn display 100 may also takeadvantages of the stereoscopic nature of the view for de-clutteringpurposes. For instance, referring back to the PFD 110 shown in FIGS. 6and 7, while the horizon indicator represented in the PFD 110 mayconform to the actual horizon (such an indicator may be referred to as aconformal indicator), some other indicators represented in the PFD 110may be unconstrained by real-world elements, and they may be referred toas non-conformal indicators. In certain implementations, conformal andnon-conformal indicators may be displayed at different stereoscopicdepths to help reduce clutter.

More specifically, conformal indicators (e.g., including the horizonindicator and the wireframe map) may have stereoscopic depth settingsthat match their real-world counterpart. For instance, the horizonindicator provided by the PFD 110 may be presented at infinity and thewireframe representation of a mountain may be presented at astereoscopic depth that appears to conform to the relative distance fromthe mountain to the aircraft. Non-conformal indicators, on the otherhand, may be displayed at stereoscopic depth settings that are notnecessarily tied to any real-world elements. For instance, one or morenon-conformal indicators (e.g., the virtual panel 108) may be presentedat a stereoscopic depth that is much closer than infinity. It iscontemplated that presenting conformal and non-conformal indicators inthis manner may be appreciated because humans have a natural ability tofilter items that are not presented in the depth (focal) plane of oureyes, yielding the feeling of a less cluttered display without actuallyremoving any display elements.

It is also contemplated the stereoscopic depth of non-conformalindicators may be configured to be adjustable in certainimplementations. For instance, suppose that an altitude indicator istypically presented at a stereoscopic depth that is much closer thaninfinity, meaning that the altitude indicator may not be clearly visibleto the pilot if the pilot is searching for an airport at a distance(i.e., the focal plane of the eyes of the pilot is at a distance). Nowsuppose that the altitude of the aircraft has dropped below a certainlevel that requires immediate attention from the pilot, the stereoscopicdepth of the altitude indicator may be adjusted to match the focal planeof the eyes of the pilot (which can be detected using one or moresensor(s) positioned with in the head-worn display 100), providing aneffective mechanism to bring the altitude indicator into focus and toquickly draw the attention from the pilot.

It is to be understood that the head-worn display 100 may takeadvantages of the stereoscopic nature of the view to provide otherdisplay features as well. For example, in certain implementations,information regarding traffic, weather, terrain and the like may bepresented in a stereoscopic (or layered) map to give an additionalperspective to conventional two-dimensional maps. In another example, astereoscopic (or three-dimensional) route map may be provided to showwaypoints at their corresponding altitudes. It is contemplated that thestereoscopic nature of the head-worn display 100 may be utilized toprovide other display features not specifically described above withoutdeparting from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

Referring now to FIGS. 11-13, a series of diagrams illustratingaugmented reality depictions that may be presented to help the pilotcomplete a checklist 116 is shown. The checklist 116 may include, forexample, a pre-flight checklist, an emergency (e.g., engine fire)checklist, as well as various other types of checklists. Forillustrative purposes, suppose that the current action in the checklist116 requires the pilot to push a button that is located outside of thefield of view of the pilot, the head-worn display 100 may display anarrow 118 that points toward the location where the button is located.The pilot may follow the arrow 118 and turn toward the direction asindicated by the arrow 118, and once the button comes into the field ofvision of the pilot, the head-worn display 100 may stop displaying thearrow 118.

The head-worn display 100 may subsequently identify the correct button120A (among one or more similar buttons 120 on the flight deck) thatneeds to be pushed according to the action specified in the checklist116. This may be accomplished using computer vision and/or otherdetection techniques. Alternatively and/or additionally, the location ofthe button 120A may be pre-recorded in a database, which may be utilizedto help locate the button 120A when needed. Regardless of the specificimplementation of the detection technique, however, once the head-worndisplay 100 detects the location of the button 120A, the head-worndisplay 100 may display a location indicator 122 around the button 120A(as shown in FIG. 12) to help the pilot correctly identify that button120A. FIG. 13 shows the pilot pushing and holding the identified button120A for a period of time specified in the checklist 116.

It is to be understood that the scenario depicted in FIGS. 11-13 aremerely exemplary and the visual aids (the arrow 118 and the locationindicator 122) depicted herein are not meant to be limiting. It iscontemplated that the checklist 116, the arrow 118, and the locationindicator 122 may be displayed differently than the depictions presentedin the figures without departing from the broad scope of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein. It is also contemplated that the head-worndisplay 100 may present other types of augmented reality depictionswithout departing from the broad scope of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein.

It is noted that head-worn displays 100 configured in accordance withthe inventive concepts disclosed herein may be appreciated in variousoperating environments, including rotary wing applications. A rotarywing aircraft often cannot install a head up display, nor would it befeasible as the rotary wing aircraft may not always traverse in aforward direction, meaning that the symbology provided by the head updisplay may not be conformal. Head-worn displays 100 configured inaccordance with the inventive concepts disclosed herein may provide abetter alternative to head up displays, with lowered cost, improvedfield of view, and abilities to provide stereoscopic depictions.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a simplified block diagram depicting ahead-worn display 100 is shown. The head-worn display 100 may include adata interface 130 configured to facilitate data communications withelectronic systems and/or devices onboard an aircraft via one or morewired or wireless communication interfaces. The head-worn display 100may also include one or more sensors 140 and/or cameras 150 configuredto facilitate the various types of detection and tracking techniquespreviously mentioned. The head-worn display 100 may further include oneor more processors 160 configured to process the data received from thedata interface 130 and the one or more sensors 140 and/or cameras 150.The one or more processors 160 may be further configured to generategraphics or data input that can be used to augment the real-worldenvironment, which may then be provided to one or more display optics170 of the head-worn display 100 as previously described. It iscontemplated that the one or more processors 160 may be implemented asdedicated processing devices, application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or various other typesof processors or processing devices. It is contemplated that the one ormore display optics 170 may be implemented utilizing various types oftwo-dimensional, three-dimensional, as well as stereoscopic displaytechnologies.

It is to be understood that the augmented reality depictions describedin accordance with the inventive concepts disclosed herein are notlimited to stereoscopic head-worn displays. A head-worn display thatonly has display optic(s) positioned in the field of view of one eye mayalso be configured to provide some of the augmented reality depictionsdescribed above. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the augmentedreality depictions described above may be integrated into a syntheticvision system (SVS) without departing from the broad scope of theinventive concepts disclosed herein.

It is also to be understood that the specific references to aircraft andaircraft-specific functions in the examples above are merely exemplaryand are not meant to be limiting. It is contemplated that head-worndisplays 100 configured in accordance with the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein may be utilized stand-alone or onboard various types ofvehicles, including airborne, land-based, and maritime vehicles, withoutdeparting from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

It is to be understood that embodiments of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein may be conveniently implemented in forms of a software,hardware or firmware package. Such a package may be a computer programproduct which employs a computer-readable storage medium includingstored computer code which is used to program a computer to perform thedisclosed function and process of the present invention. Thecomputer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, any type ofconventional floppy disk, optical disk, CD-ROM, magnetic disk, hard diskdrive, magneto-optical disk, ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic oroptical card, or any other suitable media for storing electronicinstructions.

It is believed that the inventive concepts disclosed herein and many oftheir attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoingdescription, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made inthe form, construction, and arrangement of the components thereofwithout departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts orwithout sacrificing all of their material advantages. The form hereinbefore described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, it isthe intention of the following claims to encompass and include suchchanges.

What is claimed is:
 1. A head-worn display, comprising: at least oneprocessor configured to: receive eye position data from an eye trackingsystem; calibrate the head worn display based on the eye position data;calibrate zooming operations to determine a center point for zoomingoperations based on the eye position data; determine a location of thehead-worn display with respect to a real-world environment via one ormore head trackers; receive a position and orientation of an aircraftincluding the head-worn display; correlate the received position andorientation and the determined location of the head-worn display;generate a checklist and a visual aid to help the user complete thechecklist; generate an arrow associated with the checklist indicating areal-world location of a button associated with an element of thechecklist; generate a virtual panel rendered at a fixed virtuallocation; generate a primary flight display; generate a wireframetopographical map; generate a conformal indicator conforming to anelement in the real-world environment; render stereoscopic imagescomprising the checklist, visual aid, arrow, virtual panel, primaryflight display, wireframe topographical map, and conformal indicator;and fade out the primary flight display when an orientation of thehead-worn display is directed toward the virtual panel, and fade in theprimary flight display when the orientation of the head-worn display isdirected away from the virtual panel; and at least one display incommunication with the at least one processor, the at least one displayconfigured to display the conformal indicator, virtual panel, checklist,arrow, and primary flight display generated by the at least oneprocessor to a user via stereoscopic display optics.
 2. The head-worndisplay of claim 1, wherein the conformal indicator is displayed at astereoscopic depth conforming to the element in the real-worldenvironment.
 3. The head-worn display of claim 2, wherein the element inthe real-world environment includes at least one of: a horizon, primaryflight information, a terrain, a weather condition, a traffic, anobstacle, a flight plan, an airport, a waypoint constraint at acorresponding altitude, and a landing pad.
 4. The head-worn display ofclaim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured togenerate a non-conformal indicator unconstrained by elements in thereal-world environment.
 5. The head-worn display of claim 4, wherein thenon-conformal indicator is displayed at a stereoscopic depth differentfrom the stereoscopic depth of the conformal indicator.
 6. The head-worndisplay of claim 4, wherein the non-conformal indicator is displayed atan adjustable stereoscopic depth.
 7. The head-worn display of claim 1,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate ashadow to visually indicate a depth of one of the conformal indicator orthe non-conformal indicator.
 8. The head-worn display of claim 1,wherein the virtual panel is rendered to face the user at apredetermined viewing angle with respect to a line of sight of the user.9. The head-worn display of claim 1, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to generate an alert displayed at varyingstereoscopic depths.
 10. The head-worn display of claim 1, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to generate a visualindicator of the button associated with the element of the checklistwhen the button enters in a field of view of the head-worn display. 11.The head-worn display of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to calibrate the at least one display based on an eyeposition of the user.
 12. The head-worn display of claim 1, wherein thehead-worn display is adapted to operate inside a vehicle, and whereinthe at least one processor of the head-worn display is furtherconfigured to process data received from at least one device located onthe vehicle.
 13. The head-worn display of claim 12, wherein the at leastone device located on the vehicle includes a radar, and wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to generate an indicator basedon an object detected by the radar.
 14. The head-worn display of claim13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured tocross-reference information regarding the object detected by the radarwith at least one additional sensor to improve data reliability.
 15. Ahead-worn display, comprising: at least one processor configured to:receive eye position data from an eye tracking system; calibrate thehead worn display based on the eye position data; calibrate zoomingoperations to determine a center point for zooming operations based onthe eye position data; determine a location of the head-worn displaywith respect to a real-world environment via one or more head trackers;receive a position and orientation of an aircraft including thehead-worn display; correlate the received position and orientation andthe determined location of the head-worn display; generate a checklistand a visual aid to help the user complete the checklist; generate anarrow associated with the checklist indicating a real-world location ofa button associated with an element of the checklist; generate a virtualpanel rendered at a virtual location fixed in the user's field of view;generate a primary flight display; receive gesture data corresponding toa hand position and gesture; determine an interaction with the virtualpanel based on an intersection of the gesture data and a portion of thevirtual panel; generate a wireframe topographical map; generate aconformal indicator conforming to an element in the real-worldenvironment; render stereoscopic images comprising the checklist, visualaid, arrow, virtual panel, primary flight display, wireframetopographical map, and conformal indicator; and fade out the primaryflight display when an orientation of the head-worn display is directedtoward the virtual panel, and fade in the primary flight display whenthe orientation of the head-worn display is directed away from thevirtual panel; and a stereoscopic display in communication with the atleast one processor, the stereoscopic display configured to display theconformal indicator, virtual panel, and primary flight display generatedby the at least one processor to a user, wherein the conformal indicatoris displayed at a stereoscopic depth conforming to the element in thereal-world environment.
 16. The head-worn display of claim 13, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to generate anon-conformal indicator unconstrained by elements in the real-worldenvironment, and wherein the non-conformal indicator is displayed at anadjustable stereoscopic depth.
 17. A head-worn display, comprising: atleast one processor configured to: receive eye position data from an eyetracking system; calibrate the head worn display based on the eyeposition data; calibrate zooming operations to determine a center pointfor zooming operations based on the eye position data; determine alocation of the head-worn display with respect to a real-worldenvironment via one or more head trackers; receive a position andorientation of an aircraft including the head-worn display; correlatethe received position and orientation and the determined location of thehead-worn display; generate a checklist and a visual aid to help theuser complete the checklist; generate an arrow associated with thechecklist indicating a real-world location of a button associated withan element of the checklist; generate a conformal indicator conformingto an element in the real-world environment; generate a wireframetopographical map; generate a non-conformal indicator unconstrained byelements in the real-world environment; render stereoscopic imagescomprising the checklist, visual aid, arrow, virtual panel, primaryflight display, wireframe topographical map, and conformal indicator;and fade out the conformal indicator when an orientation of thehead-worn display is directed toward the non-conformal indicator, andfade in the conformal indicator when the orientation of the head-worndisplay is directed away from the non-conformal indicator; and astereoscopic display in communication with the at least one processor,the stereoscopic display configured to display the conformal indicatorand the non-conformal indicator generated by the at least one processorto a user, wherein the conformal indicator is displayed at astereoscopic depth conforming to the element in the real-worldenvironment, and wherein the non-conformal indicator is displayed at anadjustable stereoscopic depth.